SMEs left out in the cold when it comes to digitisation

hand asks for help in the digital hole 3D illustration

New research by Cisco has revealed that despite SMEs understanding the benefits and need for digitisation in their business, the cost of implementing the technology is still proving to be too much of a barrier for many – leaving them out in cold and at a major disadvantage when taking on larger competitors.

The study, conducted on over 500 SME owners and managers in Australia, found that almost three-quarters (72 per cent) believe their business would benefit from increasing the use of technology to support digitisation.

However, despite this, 69 per cent still feel that is too expensive for them to regularly use IT support to harness digitisation at the same level as larger enterprises, while half (52 per cent) feel limited by their businesses’ lack of technology expertise, research or knowledge.

Similarly, SME owners and operators also identified a lack of IT resource and gaps in expertise within their business as another barrier to digitisation. Seven in 10 (70 per cent) owners and managers would like more IT expertise brought to their business, with nearly a third (31 per cent) of SME owners and managers operating their business without any IT resource. Half (51 per cent) rely on an internal IT resource, of which 82 per cent is an untrained staff member who is good at technology rather than seeking professional support and advice.

Surprisingly, despite the on the go nature of many SMEs and a focus on productivity, many small and medium businesses are also falling behind in the mobility race. Nine in 10 (91 per cent) SME owners and managers are not harnessing true telecommuting technology, and just two in five (38 per cent) have the technology to allow employees to work remotely – something that has been proven to boost productivity within businesses.

Speaking about the research, Tiffany Wright, Director of Commercial Sales at Cisco ANZ, said the findings identified key pain points for SME owners that need to be addressed by IT and technology providers.

“Embracing the challenges and dealing with the disruption of digitisation requires SMEs to adopt technology that drives growth through competitive advantages such as agility or greater productivity. This is crucial when fighting for business against incumbent enterprises or protecting business from new market entrants. To help, Cisco is now offering a range of tools that enable SMEs to better their technology portfolio.

“The research identifies cost as the number one barrier in making this transition, and lack of resource and expertise are also major pain points for SMEs. With this in mind, we’ve created CiscoST>RT – simple, secure and smart IT solutions designed to help SMEs to kick start their digitisation journey.”

Inside Small Business